New Jersey Devils left wing Ilya Kovalchuk has already been benched this season. Many, including former Devil Bobby Holik, believe the team erred in signing him.

Written by

CHUCK GORMLEY
Courier-Post Staff

Those of you who cringed last February wondering why the Devils would trade for Ilya Kovalchuk, then cackled when they signed him to a 15-year, $100 million contract over the summer -- well, you must be grinning like a Cheshire these days.

Pardon the pun, but Kovy and the Devils are proving to be a marriage made in hell.

It all started in the first round of the playoffs last April, when the Devils played one way and Kovalchuk, as is his nature, played another. ...